More than one queen

[thedaveyboy]

I collected a few queen ants last summer (common black). They have been living together in a small ant farm since then. They haven't produced any offspring yet. I have bought a new ant farm for them, should I just put one queen in the new farm?

Also, should they have produced offspring by now? They have been outside in the cold so I wondered if they were just waiting for spring?

Thanks

Dave

[Wood~Ant]

Hi Dave,
thanks for joining us, as it always nice to see a new member here

I am surprised that your queens haven't produced any brood yet, as generally newly mated queens often lay eggs prior to going into hibernation, and may even have their first workers by late September.

It is quite possible that your queens may just be waiting for spring, so that the temperatures will warm up enough for them to lay
If they happen to be Lasius niger queens, then they will need to be seperated as they are a monogynous species. It is also a possibility that they may have eaten their eggs before winter.

I hope things will work out and they'll lay once the winter is over.

[thedaveyboy]

Thanks for the reply! Will it cause them any problems to move them, will they dig down into their new home ok?

I have another question, I read that the queens don't like the light. The farm I have at the moment is quite narrow so the light gets in the chambers in the side, will this cause problems?

Thanks

[Wood~Ant]

If they haven't got any eggs at all yet, then moving them will cause no major problems at all; but my advice is to move them before the end of this month, as it will stress them less to be moved while it is still cold

As for the light on the chambers in the set up, just cover the sides with cardboard or a dark cloth when you're not viewing them. Then when you wish to see what the ants are doing, remove the cover for a few minutes.

I do this with all the colonies I keep in the slim AntWorld set ups, and it works fine